Aerospace manufacturer uses RFID asset tracking system to reduce material waste
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When expensive materials are used in the production process, the waste will be very large as usual. The physical distance between the planning and execution stages in the production process can also make this problem worse. In 2007, the American technology company Plataine launched the TPO software suite to try to solve this problem.
The TPO kit contains a planning component and a production component. The planning component uses three optimization programs, WoodOptimizer, FabricOptimizer and FoamOptimizer, to integrate production orders and existing inventory information to determine the optimal action. RFID-based Material Asset Tracking (MAT) can provide real-time tracking of any items such as materials and tools. At the same time, MAT will feed back the data to the optimization software and update the production plan. Plataine product manager Michal Diga said that due to various reasons, the actual production is often inconsistent with the plan. The MAT system can update the optimization software in real time according to the actual production situation to achieve optimal production.
Since the system was launched in 2007, the TPO system has been deployed in the furniture, clothing, aerospace, and defense industries. Five of the seven major furniture manufacturers in the United States have deployed this solution. The RFID-based MAT system is currently only deployed in aerospace and defense companies. Diga said that any manufacturing company can use the TPO system and benefit from it. In the future, Plataine will also integrate sensors and data records into the software decision-making process.
When using the material asset tracking system, the customer needs toRFIDThe label is attached to the asset that needs to be tracked. This solution can provide monitoring of the location of items. The software aims to reduce manual intervention and provide production automation records to improve traceability and supply chain efficiency.
Diga cited the TPO/MAT company that produces Boeing 787 parts as an example. The customer’s production process involves temperature-sensitive composite materials. These materials need to be thawed before cutting, and they will fail after leaving the freezer for a period of time. Previously, the company used paper to manually record the thawing time of the material, and lost $500,000 in material costs each year. The TPO kit can determine the best production mode for the day based on the existing inventory levels. Diga said that this system has improved material utilization by 5%, while also achieving full automation of material selection and cutting planning.
TPO/MAT is using Elpas’ Eiris middleware to integrate Impinj’s SpeedwayReaderAnd passive UHF RFID tags. Plataine recommends the use of active tags. The software also supports passive and active tags at the same time.
The TPO suite also provides a SaaS rental model. According to Diga, this model reduces the upfront costs and the payback period is only 3 months. The software integrates data from multiple sources, such as data collected by temperature sensors. This also allows users to track the location, temperature, and time of the material during the production process. The TPO suite uses this data to optimize the manufacturing process in real time. Users can also set reminders so that the system will receive notifications when materials are out of place, production bottlenecks, etc.
TPO software shortens the distance between enterprise resource planning, material requirements planning, and manufacturing execution systems. Diga said the kit takes customer orders, delivery dates, material inventory and parts inventory into account.
According to Diga, production efficiency is a magic weapon for outstanding companies. The purpose of Plataine’s products is to reduce costs, improve quality control capabilities and improve corporate competitiveness.
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